Phildaupho Posted June 13, 2023 Share Posted June 13, 2023 Every summer I try to find a model car project that I can work on while camping. This summer I figured what could be better than building a camper while camping - namely the excellent Revell of Germany easy-click bay window VW Westfalia Camper Van. The model was built over 4 days in campsite. I did not keep track of time spent but it must have been at least 6 hours and maybe as much as 8. The 18 pages of instructions are very well produced and need to be followed for a successful build. My supplies consisted of an Exacto knife, a sprue cutter and black, silver, red and orange Sharpie pens. If I had studied the instructions before departing, I would have also taken a brown Sharpie for some of the interior panels. Virtually no glue was used during assembly, although I finally glued a mudflap and licence plate that kept falling off. The click system works exceptionally well. I am extremely impressed with the engineering of this kit and how well everything fits together. There are five opening components – the 2 front doors, the sliding side door, the rear hatch, and the engine compartment door. When closed they stay tight with very realistic gaps. The kit comes with water slide decals and stickers. Both are very high quality printed in Italy. For my campsite build I only used the stickers although I may later add the decal upholstery and mud flap emblems. As suggested by Tim K in his MCM article, I did chrome foil the hubcap on the spare. This was a very pure model car building experience – simple yet satisfying. 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vincen47 Posted June 14, 2023 Share Posted June 14, 2023 Nice. I like how you combined two very enjoyable recreational activities, camping and model building. Excellent results from a well-engineered kit. Thanks for the build review, too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
happy grumpy Posted June 14, 2023 Share Posted June 14, 2023 Great subject to do while camping. It turned out really good. I agree, these newer snap kits are way more enjoyable to build and they give outstanding results as your model shows. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChrisR Posted June 14, 2023 Share Posted June 14, 2023 Nice! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thatz4u Posted June 14, 2023 Share Posted June 14, 2023 well done Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phildaupho Posted June 14, 2023 Author Share Posted June 14, 2023 16 hours ago, happy grumpy said: Great subject to do while camping. It turned out really good. I agree, these newer snap kits are way more enjoyable to build and they give outstanding results as your model shows. 2 hours ago, ChrisR said: Nice! 2 hours ago, thatz4u said: well done 16 hours ago, vincen47 said: Nice. I like how you combined two very enjoyable recreational activities, camping and model building. Excellent results from a well-engineered kit. Thanks for the build review, too. Thanks guys - Previously I have built two VW vans. Sometime in the 1980’s before I considered myself a car modeller I put together the Revell Vanagon era Westfalia with a minimal amount of painting. More recently the grandkids and I clicked together right out of the box with no painting at all the Airfix Lego-like Split Window which looks a lot like my old 1/1. So, this current build continues my trend of building VW vans with the least amount of painting. I still have three VW van kits in my stash – all split windows. One is the excellent Revell of Germany Camper which I plan to build box stock. I also have Revell and Hasegawa Micro-buses. I can’t make up my mind whether I should build one as a replica of my old 1/1 or as I wished it could have been. Maybe I will do both. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Claude Thibodeau Posted June 15, 2023 Share Posted June 15, 2023 Hi Phil! Very nice, and appropriate for a camping vacation! Is the body molded in that sand color? Just curious... CT Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rattlecan Dan Posted June 15, 2023 Share Posted June 15, 2023 Not exactly getting back to nature and relaxing, but hey if that's relaxing to You that's cool. Good looking van. (We can't all fit in there). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phildaupho Posted June 15, 2023 Author Share Posted June 15, 2023 54 minutes ago, Claude Thibodeau said: Hi Phil! Very nice, and appropriate for a camping vacation! Is the body molded in that sand color? Just curious... CT Thanks Claude Yes the body is molded in the sand color. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phildaupho Posted June 15, 2023 Author Share Posted June 15, 2023 47 minutes ago, Rattlecan Dan said: Not exactly getting back to nature and relaxing, but hey if that's relaxing to You that's cool. Good looking van. (We can't all fit in there). Thanks. The great thing about camping is that there is time for everything !! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PappyD340 Posted June 18, 2023 Share Posted June 18, 2023 Very nice VW van! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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